Patient with OCD Shares her Journey with Focused Ultrasound
Key Points
- The symptoms from her obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) led Monica to spend hours a day cleaning and taking scalding hot showers.
- On World Mental Health Day, we highlight how focused ultrasound enabled her to return to work and spend time with friends again.
For most of her life, Monica’s unbearable symptoms made the simplest tasks a challenge. Diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) at the age of nine, Monica remembers the early years with confusion and fear.
“My first symptoms came out in fits of almost rage. I would just get incredibly frustrated and then yell and scream because I couldn’t understand what was going on.”
The compulsions began subtly when she started hoarding things like wrapping paper and boxes but quickly escalated into debilitating routines driven by overwhelming fears of contamination. By the time she was ten, Monica was taking scalding hot showers and washing her hands to the point of bleeding in a desperate attempt to feel clean.
“I couldn’t even bend my hands. It was very painful.”
Around that time, she began taking medications and seeing mental health professionals to manage her symptoms. Throughout adolescence and into adulthood, Monica tried several treatments, including cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure and response prevention (ERP), hypnotherapy, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and ketamine therapy.
But the pressures of law school and the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic pushed her to a breaking point.
“My daily life became agony. I spent all waking hours every day trying to avoid contamination, and I would spend several more hours cleaning things – including my whole body – with Lysol and even Clorox spray, which is bleach. I was trying to eliminate any potential germs that could be on my body that I thought would harm me or my family.”
Monica’s world kept shrinking. She stopped seeing friends. She couldn’t leave her home. Life had become unmanageable.
But in late 2022, Monica heard about MRI-guided focused ultrasound being offered as part of a clinical trial at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. Although she was hesitant at first, the choice quickly became clear.
“I had exhausted all other forms of treatment. I knew this was something I had to do if I wanted a chance to potentially reduce my symptoms and have some form of a more normal, manageable life. This was my last resort. Even the list of potential side effects sounded manageable compared to what I was living with.”
In 2023, Monica underwent her first focused ultrasound procedure. The treatment, which involved using precisely targeted ultrasound waves to create small lesions in specific parts of the brain, was performed while she was inside an MRI machine.
Though the first treatment didn’t bring the lasting relief she had hoped for, Monica was eligible for a second. And that second treatment changed everything.
“A few days after the treatment, I thought, ‘Where’s the anxiety in my body?’ ‘Where did the depression go?’ It was phenomenal.”
For the first time in decades, Monica could breathe without the constant weight of anxiety. Though some OCD symptoms remained, they no longer ruled her life. Over the months that followed, those compulsions began to fade as well.
Today, Monica estimates that her OCD symptoms have been reduced by 35–40%. But her life has taken a dramatic turn.
“I’m back at work. I’m doing things and going places that I never would have thought possible before the treatment. My family says they’ve never seen me this happy before.”
Her daily routines are no longer dictated by fear. She still takes medication and continues ERP therapy, but without the depression and anxiety, she can finally focus on healing.
Monica doesn’t downplay the seriousness of the decision to undergo brain surgery, but she also doesn’t hesitate when asked if she’d do it again.
“If I had to go back in time and remake the decision a thousand fold over, I would make the same decision and choose focused ultrasound.”
To others considering the treatment, she offers this advice:
“There are so many factors that one needs to consider. But if you’ve tried other forms of treatment and they failed, I would say absolutely, without a doubt, go for it. It’s overwhelming, but OCD is absolutely overwhelming also. So you have to weigh those two things against each other.”
Monica is grateful for the doctors, the researchers, and the people working behind the scenes to find solutions for treatment-resistant OCD.
“I’m so fortunate to be able to live somewhere where I have access to this. But truly, truly, they saved my life. So I am forever and indefinitely grateful to all of them.”
This patient story was adapted from Monica’s episode of the Foundation’s Curing with Sound podcast.
All patient stories featured on the Curing with Sound podcast and the Focused Ultrasound Foundation’s website are personal accounts of an individual’s experience with focused ultrasound treatment. Please be aware that each patient’s situation is unique, and outcomes may vary. The information provided in this story should not be considered as medical advice or a guarantee of specific results. It is important to consult with a qualified healthcare provider to discuss your condition and determine the best treatment options for you. The Focused Ultrasound Foundation does not endorse any specific treatment or medical procedure and encourages all patients to seek professional medical guidance tailored to their individual needs.